August boom for London hotels
The figures revealed that occupancy in the capital increased by 3.4 per cent to 87.3 per cent in August – the highest level since 1999 - while room rates rose 3.1 per cent to £117.55 and room yield grew by 6.7 per cent to £102.66
BDO attributed the growth to the rise of inbound tourism to London this summer, with Gatwick and Heathrow airports achieving record passenger figures during the month of August.
Regional boom
Regional hotels also turned around a strong performance in August, achieving the fourth month of double digit growth since the beginning of the year.
Room yield in the regions increased by 12.1 per cent during the month, with occupancy and room rates rising 3.9 per cent and 7.9 per cent respectively.
“August has been an all-round successful month for hotels in London and the regions,” said Robert Barnard, partner at BDO LLP.
“The buzz of UK tourism has firmly kept the momentum experienced last year and hoteliers are reaping the rewards as both overseas and domestic visitors make the most of all that the country has to offer.
“Interestingly, London has experienced the highest occupancy for August in 15 years – a sure sign that the UK hotels sector is now in the strongest position for a long time.”
Record overseas visits
According to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics, overseas tourism rose by 7 per cent in the first seven months of 2014, reaching a record 19.8m visits.
There was a particular growth in visits from countries outside of Europe and North America, which rose 1 per cent year-on-year to 2.94m in the January-July period.
London in particular has benefitted from the growth in overseas visits, with the MasterCard Global Destinations Cities Index predicting that the city will receive 18.7m international visitors in 2014, translating to £11bn in tourism spend.
